Run Away
by Thepopcornpup
Summary: After a nervous breakdown at school, Elsa is signed up for group therapy, where she meets the spunky and outgoing girl in foster care, Anna. Can these two become closer friends, or will both's pasts get in the way? (Modern AU) (Not Elsanna)
1. Chapter 1

I sit in the waiting room, tapping my foot anxiously.

"Calm down,"

I feel a hand on my shoulder. Mama is smiling at me softly.

"Do I have to go?" I ask nervously.

"You'll be fine, Elsa," Mama replies.

I fold my hands on my lap. Maybe I wouldn't be here if it hadn't happened. If I hadn't broken down. But, I did, and now, they have to fix me.

"Elsa?" A friendly looking woman stands in the doorway, beckoning to me. "You can come in now."

I nod, biting my lip. "Thank you."

I walk into a room with four couches. The walls are lined with degrees and artwork.

"You're awfully early, Elsa," The woman notes.

"Sorry," I respond.

"Don't be sorry," The woman says. "The early bird catches the worm."

I smirk softly and sit down on one of the couches.

"I'm Ms. Gerda, by the way," The woman, apparently Ms. Gerda, greets.

"Nice to meet you," I say.

"Is this your first time in group therapy?" She asks.

I nod. _It's my first time in any therapy, and I'm terrified._ I think to myself.

I feel my leg tense up as a headache buds on the left side of my brain. "May I get some water please?"

"'May I'. How polite!" Ms. Gerda grins. "Of course."

I rush out of the room and back a beeline for the water fountain. I keep my head down. _Conceal, don't feel, conceal, don't feel, conceal, don't-_ "Woah!"

I crash into something and before I know it, I'm on the ground.

"Ahh! I'm such a klutz!" A voice exclaims.

I look up and see a girl with twin strawberry blonde braids on the floor in front of me. I guess something was a someone.

"I'm so so sorry. I'd help you up if I could up myself, but with this backpack, I'm finding myself in a very turtle-like situation," The girl says.

I brush myself off and push myself up. I hold out my hand to the girl laying on the ground, balanced on a green backpack.

"Oh, you shouldn't have to do help me up. I'm the one who knocked you over!" The girl responds. But, she grabs my hand anyway. "Thanks!"

"It's fine," I say. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Neither was I," The girl adds. "M'kay, now count to three, and I'll somehow get up. One...two...THREE!"

I pull her arm, and she leans forward enough to be pulled upward.

"Thank you!" The girl smiles. "And, sorry to bother you with more of my rambling, but do you know where..."

She pulls a paper out of her pocket and reads, "Ms. Gerda is?"

My eyebrows lift with surprise. "That's where I am," I answer.

"Oh! Perfect! That's fate for you, huh?" The girl laughs. "Well, let's go!"

A smile tugs at my lips, and I lead her to the room. I realize that the panic attack that was threatening to happen disappeared.

I open the door and there's about for more girls in the room.

"Great! You're back!" Ms. Gerda grins. "And, you brought someone else?"

The girl nods and we sit down on a couch together.

"Now, we can get started!" Ms. Gerda says. "Welcome girls, I'm Ms. Gerda. I'll be leading our little group here for the few weeks that we're here. To start things off, let's say our name, why we're here, and one interesting thing about ourselves. I'll start off: My name is Gerda, I'm here to help you gain confidence in yourselves, and I can play the saxophone. Now, let's go clockwise."

I can't pay attention to what the first person says._ I have to tell everyone why I'm here? It's bad enough that everyone at my school had to see it. Just...conceal, don't feel. Don't get upset when you say it. Calm yourself. Control yourself._

The girl from the hallway is next. "Hi, I'm Anna. It's usually pronounced Ah-nah, but you can say Anne-ah if you want. Um, I'm here because I've been in about five thousand and one different foster homes, and I swear I'll burst if I have to keep moving. I guess my current family thinks that bursting wouldn't be good for me, so they sent me here. Sooo, interesting thing? I'm not exactly the definition of interesting, but I'll try. I...I have a snowman living in my backpack. His name is Olaf."

Anna flashes everyone a smile when she's done to break the awkward silence. She gets more silence in return. "Wow, tough crowd," She mutters.

It's my turn next. "Um..." I start. I wring my hands. "I'm Elsa. I had a nervous breakdown at school, and ran away. I take ice skating lessons."

I relax when no one raises an eyebrow, like the kids at school. _Maybe this won't be so bad._

I listen to Merida, (who argues with her mom too much and does archery) then Belle, (who needs to make friends, and has a huge collection of books) and then Aurora, (who just recently got out of a coma and likes to sew).

"Great girls!" Ms. Gerda smiles. "It was brave of you to share that with us. I guess that just proves that we're all friends here."

Ms. Gerda talks about the exercises we'll be doing to help us for a while. I half-listen until a note is pressed into my hand. Curious, I read:

_"I've run away before, too. - Anna (The turtle from the hallway.)"_


	2. A Phone Call

**Author's Note: I got _way_ more follows and favorites than I thought I would! Thank you!**

**So, I've decided that this story will switch perspectives, so this from Anna's POV. **

**The scenes in italics are flashbacks. There will be lots of flashbacks in this story.**

**By the way, I don't agree with anything Hans says. I've had therapy, so I obviously don't agree. **

**I hope that you like it! :-) **

* * *

"Hey Elsa!"

The blonde turns around and stares at me with her big blue eyes.

I pull out a piece of paper and scribble down my foster mom's home phone number. "Here," I smile and hand it to her. "If you wanted to keep in touch."

Elsa looks thoroughly surprised. "Th-thanks," She half-smiles.

"That's only if you want to call me, anyway," I add, now feeling awkward. "I didn't mean to be pushy."

"No," Elsa shakes her head. "You weren't being pushy. Thanks. I should probably get back to my mom. Thanks."

I wave to her as she walks away. Once she's gone, I slap my forehead. What made me think I'd actually made a friend?

* * *

"Hey Anna!"

I feel a stick hit the back of my head. "What?"

Hans smirks at me. "How was it in the psycho ward?"

"It's not a psycho ward!" I feel my cheeks heat up and I ball my fists. "It's therapy!"

"You know who needs therapists?" Hans questions. He points his finger at his head and starts making a circle with it, grinning.

"Shut up!" My voice cracks, and I feel the tears coming. "That's not true. Plenty of people need therapists."

"Whatever," Hans scoffs. He tosses the ball he was playing with at me and it hits my eye before I can move. "Ahh!" I hiss and clutch my eye.

Mrs. Westerguard, my foster mom and Hans' birth mom, comes out into the backyard at that moment. "What's going on? Anna, are you alright?"

Hans answers with fake alarm. "Anna and I were just tossing the ball around and she wasn't paying attention, so she missed the ball. Are you okay, Anna?"

I glare at him from between my fingers. "No."

"Do you want me to get you an ice pack?" Hans offers, still feigning innocence.

"No." I spit. I run up to my room and slam the door shut, allowing myself to cry.

"What's wrong?"

I jump when I hear Kristoff Bjorgman, another boy that Mrs. Westerguard is fostering. I frown. "Can't I get any privacy around here?!"

I'm about to storm off, but Kristoff says, "Hey, don't get mad at me."

I sigh. "I'm sorry, I know it's your room, too."

"That's fine," Kristoff responds, slowly making his way out of the room. "I don't really want to bother an emotional girl, so I'll just go."

I laugh a bit. "What do you mean by 'emotional girl?'"

"Um, I didn't mean to offend you," Kristoff assures, sounding slightly scared.

I chuckle. "You're funny."

"Thanks?" Kristoff replies unsurely.

Suddenly, I hear the phone ring from downstairs. Hope bubbles up inside of me. _Could it be Elsa?_

I rush downstairs, but a pit forms in my stomach when I see Hans talking on the phone. "You want to talk to Anna?" He questions. "Why would you want to talk to her?"

I run at him. "No, Hans! Give me the phone!"

Hans stands on his toes, making it harder for me to get the phone. "Oh, you're from Anna's therapy?"

"Hans!" I reach for the phone, but he walks away, still on his toes.

"Well, Anna told me that she's too busy to bother talking with you now," Hans lies, grinning at me.

"No!" I tackle him, trying to grab the phone. "Give it to me!"

"Agh! Get off of me!" Hans cries.

"Give me the phone!" I demand. I grab his wrist and, leaning towards the phone, say, "Elsa, I _never_ said that!"

"Get off me, you nut!" Hans exclaims.

"Hans! Anna!" Mrs. Westerguard scolds. "What's going on?"

"I-I just answered the phone, but Anna wanted to answer it, so she tackled me!" Hans responds, ever so innocent.

"Mrs. Westerguard, that's not the whole story!" I sigh. "He was lying to my friend!"

Mrs. Westerguard shakes her head. "Please, don't argue. Just-just meet me in the family room. Anna, tell your friend that you can't talk right now."

Hans hands me the phone. "Here you go. You could've just said that you wanted it."

I stick my tounge out at him and put the phone to my ear. "Elsa, trust me; I didn't say a thing like that. I was just hoping you'd call me. That was a jerk, don't listen to him. El-Elsa?"

She doesn't respond.

"Elsa?"

I look at the small screen on the phone. Elsa hung up.

I groan and try to call her back.

"Hello, this is Idun Christian. I can't take your call right now, but-"

"Ugh!" I slam the phone back into its rack.

"Anna! Come on!"

I grudgingly head into the family room, ready to be lectured.

* * *

_"So, why were you all alone out there?"_

_I fidgeted with something on the social worker's desk. "I got seperated from my parents."_

_"Anna, we both know that that's not true." The social worker sighed._

_"I promise that it's true," I say, staring her straight in the eye._

_"I have a file of all the times that you've run from your homes, Ms. Andersen," The social worker pulled out a manila folder._

_I sighed. "Okay, maybe I ran away from my foster home, but it's true that I was separated from my parents. I never said that we were separated recently."_

_The social worker shook her head. "Why would you run away? Were your foster parents mean to you?"_

_"No," I replied. "But, I know that they weren't going to keep me. I suppose that I just wanted to find a place where I'm wanted."_

_The social worker's stressed face changes into a sympathetic one. "We'll find you a home, Anna. Eventually."_

* * *

"Come on, pick up the phone," I mutter.

It's 10:36 p.m., and I snuck downstairs to call Elsa when everyone else was asleep.

"Hello?"

I perk up. "Ms. Christian?"

"Who's there?" Elsa's mom questions, sounding tired.

"I'm from Elsa's therapy. I'm Anna. Sorry to call so late, but-"

"Wait, are you a friend that Elsa made?" She interrupts.

"Yes," I reply.

"Say no more!" She then calls Elsa. "I didn't know that you made a friend!" I hear her say to Elsa.

"Hello?" Elsa asks meekly.

"Oh my goodness, Elsa! I am so so sorry! I did not say that I was too busy for you! That was Hans, my foster mom's jerky son! I wouldn't say a thing like that! Please don't believe a word he said to you! I didn't even think you'd call me, but then, you did and I was all excited but then Hans answered and ruined it!" I ramble.

"Oh, wow, Anna." Elsa sounds slightly shocked. "You're fine. Thanks for calling me back. I'm sorry that Hans took the phone from you."

I sigh in relief. "Thank you for understanding! I'm sorry I called so late, but I didn't want you to think that I hated you or something."

"I have to go to bed," Elsa says. "Can I call you tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course!" I grin from ear to ear.

When she hangs up, I pick up my stuffed snowman, Olaf, and swing him around excitedly. I tell him,"I have a friend, Olaf! For the first time in forever, I've been noticed by someone!"


End file.
